Dessoff Choirs To Continue 93rd Season with One Night Only Concert This March!

The Dessoff Choir continues its 93rd season with a one-night only concert, March 11, 2018, at downtown's Basilica of St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. Program includes The Little Match Girl Passion, the allegorical choral reenactment of the Passion by composer David Lang (b.1957), Bach's (1685-1750) Komm Jesu, komm, and the complete Chichester Psalms by Bernstein.

Lang won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for music for The Little Match Girl Passion which is a meditation on human suffering based on Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Little Match Girl". Andersen's Dickensian tale is of a little girl who freezes to death on the street on New Year's Eve after failing to sell any matches to earn money for her family. "What drew me to The Little Match Girl is that the strength of the story lies not in its plot but in the fact that the horror and the beauty are constantly suffused with their opposites," explains Lang. "Andersen tells this story as a kind of parable, drawing a religious and moral equivalency between the suffering of the poor girl and the suffering of Jesus."

Interwoven with texts by Picander (the librettist of Bach's "St. Matthew Passion"), and the Gospel of Matthew itself, Lang's delicate, minimalist score evokes passion through stasis, repetition, and the unexpected combination of percussion instruments with voices. Dessoff's version includes full choir with four soloists and guest percussionist Maria Finkelmeier. "People who like the sound of straight-toned voices singing intricate counterpoint at close intervals will appreciate this piece," says Malcolm J. Merriweather, ninth Music Director and conductor of The Dessoff Choirs.

The program continues with the fourth installment of Johann Sebastian Bach's (1685-1750) six motets, Komm Jesu, komm BWV 229. As part of its season-long celebration of Leonard Bernstein's (1918-1990) centenary, the choir honors Bernstein's rich legacy by performing Chichester Psalms.

The Dessoff Choirs, one of the leading choruses in New York City, is an independent chorus with an established reputation for pioneering performances of choral works from the Renaissance era through the 21st century. Since its founding in 1924, Dessoff's mission is to enrich the lives of its audiences and members through the performance of choral music. Its concerts, professional collaborations, community outreach, and educational initiatives are dedicated to stimulating public interest in and appreciation of choral music as an art form that enhances the culture and life of our times.

Dessoff's recent discography includes REFLECTIONS, featuring music by Convery, Corigliano, Moravec, and Rorem, and GLORIES ON GLORIES, a collection of American song featuring composers ranging from Billings to Ives. Please visit dessoff.org for more information.

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